Fender for vehicles.



,E. FINELLI." FENDER 50R VEHICLES.

APPLHIIATI ON HLED JULY 2 2Li9l9. 1,326,487, Patented. Dec. 30,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET].

E; HNELLL FEfifiER-FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22,19).

1,32 ,4 7, Patented Deer30, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

I M Wmm mv'rn Are nitnnsggo FINELLI, or new voice, N. Y.

FENDER FOR VEHICLES.

Application filed July 2% T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNESTO FINELLI, a subject of the King of Italy,-and resident of New York, county and State of New York, have made acertain new and useful Invention in Fenders for Vehicles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to fenders for vehicles, end particularly forautomobiles.

The object of the invention is to provide a fender which is simple inconstruction, efficient in operation and economical of manufacture.

A. further object of the invention is to provicle e fender for vehicleswhich will pre vent injuw to pedestrians struck by the ve hicle whileinmotion.

A further object/oi the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described wherein provision is made to form as shock absorbingcurtain to catch 3. pedestrian struck by u vehicie, which curtain is notpositioned in piece until the pedestrian is struck, and whichautomatically operates upon striking the pedestrian.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a. device of thecharacter described means for holding the pedestrian so struck by thevehicle to prevent him from rebounding, rolling or falling" in front ofthe vehicle after being initially struck thereby.

Further objects of the invention will zip peer more fully hereinei'ter.

The invcntiernconsists substantially in the construction, combination,iocetion and relutive arrangement of perks, ell es will be more fullyhereineiter set forth, as shown by the ecccmpcny ng'drewin%s, snclfinally pointed. out in the appended c. eims.

Referring o the drawings:

Figure 1 is a View in front elevation of a vehicle equipped with afender embodying," my invention.

Fig. 2 ise. deteii view in side elevetion of one member of the fenderand safety device forming 2." part thereof;

Fig. 3 1s a view in side elevation of a per-- tion .of the vehicleshowing one position of the fender enc1safety device.

Fig. 4: is a. top plan view of a portion oi. the same showing thecurtain extended.

Fig.5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the device in its operated oractuated position.

fiiic sums pert iszdcsigneted by theseme Specification of LettersEatcnt.

ism. Serial no. 312,495. 1

reference character wherever throughout the several views.

In accordance with my invention I pro.-

pose to provide it fender for vehicles which upon striking a. pedestrianwill cause 9. ourtain to rise verticeily andiproject horizontelly tocatch the pedestrian so struck and to simultaneously actuate two arms tosupport the body of the person thus in effect picked up by the vehicleand prevent him from falling. While I have shown and willnow larly tosntomobiles, I wish it to be uuderstood that the same is not to belimited or restricted in this respect as the same is sup plicable forany vehicle.

, Referring to th drawings, 1 show in Fig. 1 a. front view 0 anautomobile, upon the respective iront springsfzfcf which I mount ahousing 3, which may bev medic in any suitebie manner, preferably ofmetal. Pi otully supported. on the inner side of the housing 3 is an armPivcteiiy suppormcl as at 5 in the housing 3 and; extended through a.door 6 in the front edge thereof is an arm 2' which he's pivotellysecured. at

Petenteii Dec. 30, 1919.

it occurs describe-my invention as applied partiesthe-end. thereof efender 8 which may be or any suitable construction, preferably of i theusual weii-known partially curved form and made of flexible materielpossessing r 1 siliency but at the Same time strength, for example,heavy-mesh wire, and. preferably round in contour, so as to eiirnineteprojecting edges. Extending between the top and bottom of the housing 3.and lccsteciet the frcnt end. thereoi': is e rod Egwhich extends throughallele in the arm 7, a spring 10 be ing-coileci around. the arm antpositioned between the bottom of the housing 3 and: the unclersurfece cfthe erml. The arm 7 supports the tender 8 b means of collar 10 carriedon the fern: er 8, which collar is secured to the enelof the arm, 7, inany suitable manner, for, example, by means of a screw or bolt. "Thecoller 10 is provided with emu .vcriii 'lcrejecting pin 13. Bigiriiy'ettecheii to t e easel; or forming a part thereof is an uric i-si'-positione'cl above the pivoted arm '2'. This erm i-vis' olvotellysecured to a movable arm 15 by meiins oi a. bolt connection 16 end aspring 17 coiled about the bolt 16 and secured to the res ectwo arms Mand 15 which normally ten 5 to 10 andhcldin this position against theac-' tion of the spring as clearly shown in Fig. 2., One end of the arma mounted on the inner surface of the case 3 is. bent at substantiallyright angles thereto and projects within the case 3 so that the arm 4 1srocked when the arm '4' is depressed against the action o f the spring10". Y i Referring to Fig. 8, mounted under the hood of the vehicle ls-acylinder Q0, in which is mounted a plunger 21, the free end of which isnormally in al'inement with the 'arm 4. A spring 22 normally urges the,plunger in a forwardly direction relative to the car. The end of theplunger 21 is scoured to the pole of a curtain 25 mounted on a roll :26of the usual spring ty e whereby when the arm 4 is removed from t v eposition in front of the plunger 21 the spring 22 causes plunger 21 tobe projected forwardly and thus unwinding the curtain 25 in a horizontal direction as will be apparent. Suitably secured to the top of thevehicle, or in this iustance,-to the radiator cap 27, by means ofbracket 28 is a curtain roll 2%), also of the spring type. to the edgesof which are secured a string, wire or other connectling means 30, whichis in turn secured to the end of the plunger 21. lthdesired, the string30 may pass over the pulley 35 to, upon actuation of the plunger,causethc top of thccurtain 29 to unroll vertically downward. Theoperation of the device will be apparent. Assuming the parts to be inthe position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, that is, with the curtains rolledup on their rolls the arm 4; positioned in front of the end of theplunger 21 and the arms l5 maintained in place by means ot'the pins '13on the collar 10, it' a pedestrian is hit in the travel of theautomobile the supporting arm =7 for the fender being pivotally mountedas above explained, the fender is depressed, the depression of thefender draws the pin 13 out of retaining engagement relative to thepivoted arm 15 so that the arm 15 isrclcascd and supports the pedestrianon the curtain. At the same time the downward moven'ient of the fender 8causes the arms 7 to bearagainst the projection of arms a which arelocated within the casings 3 and thereby rocks the arms 4- and thusrelease the plunn'crs 21 so that the curtains-arc drawn into place inthe manner above described.

lt will of course be understood that while I have described themechanism on one side of the vehicle, in the case of automobiles thismechanism will be duplicated for the other side of the vehicle, but theconstrue tion, mode of operation, and results shown and obtained wouldbe coiiperhtiveand identicah 4 The advantages of a fender- 0f this typeand character are believed to be tocgobvious ters Patent is,-

1. In a safety device for vehicle fronts, the combination with a vehicleframe, of a tender pivotally carried thereby, means for yicldinglvmaintaining said tender in ts upward imit of-pivotal movement, spr ngpressed arms normally tending to swing toward each other, means forretainin said arms in retracted position when said lender is in itsnormal position, and means for re leasing said arms when pivotalmovement is imparted to said tender.

2. The combination with a vehicle frame, of a casing supported thereby,a lever piv otally carried by said casing, means for normallymaintaining said lever at its upward limit of movement, afender carriedby said lever, an arm rigidly extending from said casing and providedwith a pivoted portion, pie-ans normally tending to swing the pivotedportion of said arm about its pivot, and means carried by said fendertor retaining the position of said arm in almement with haid lever,whereby when said fender is depressed, said pivoted portion of said arm1% is released.

3. In a devilze ot the character described, the combination with acurtain, means for projecting said curtain in a substantially horizontaldirection, means for normally retaining said curtain in retractedposition under tension, a second curtain, a tender, and means actuatedby the "tender being struck for extending said first mentioned curtain,'and means actuated thereby for ext-ending said second curtain in-avertical direction.

l. The combination with a frame, a pair of horizontally disposed curtainrolls'supported thereby, one above the other, and 116 spaced apart fromeach other,"a t-fender, means actuated by movement of said tender forunrolling one of said curtains substan- ,tially horizontally, and theother of said curtains substantially vertically.

5. The combination with a frame,a fender pivotally supported thereby,means for yielding-1y mamtaining'said tender at the upward limit of itspivotal-movement, a

tension arm, means for normally retaining said arm under tension, acurtain secured to the end of said'arm, and means actuated by thepivotal movement of said fenderrior; releasing said arm retaining means.The combination, with a frame anten r30 der ivotallysnpported thereby,means for yiekiingly maintaining said fender at the upward limit of itspivotal movement, a pivoted lever, means normally tending to swing saidlever about its pivot, means carried by said fender when in its normalposition for retaining said lever in retracted position, a tension arm,means for normally retaining said zirm under 'tension,,a curtum securedto the end of sa d arm,,an 1

means actuated by the pivotal movement of mg means.

said fender for releasing said arm "retain- 7. The combinationwith aframe, :1 casing supported thereby, a fender pivotally supported in saidcasing; an arm pivotally mounted on said casing, and positioned to bepivotally rocked upon movement of said fender about its pivot, a springpressed plunger bur normally retained in retraeted position by said arm,and a curtain secured to said arm. 1

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 30th day ofJune,

A. D. 1919. v n I ERNESTO FINELLI.

